Year-end writing meme
Stolen from c_quinn. Yes, stolen; I am a meme thief.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I wrote 16 completed one-shots this year, which I think is more than I’ve written in any past year. It didn’t feel like that much as I was doing it, because I would go for weeks at a time without writing anything. But between fic exchanges and my own ideas, I managed to get quite a bit done.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Well, I didn’t start watching “Heroes” until January 2007, so I guess all of those pairings were a surprise in some way. :) I only wrote one Petrellicest ficlet, but that pairing would have surprised me in January. I had glanced over some Nathan/Peter stories before, but since I didn’t see the slashy early episodes, I didn’t see the chemistry until I’d been watching for a while.
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
Oh, that’s hard. I think one of the ones I like the best is “The Difference Between Invincibility and Immortality”, a Peter-centric genfic I wrote in August. It’s a good exploration of an idea, and I got teary-eyed writing the end.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Everything I wrote this year was a risk. I only did one-shots in 2007- in high school, I used to only have ideas for multi-parts, and I could never finish them or get them to read really well. Once I learned that I could express an idea in three pages or less, I was fine. Also, I’d never posted slash outside of the Tribeworld message board until this year. I think what I learned from the risks was simply that it’s okay to take them. Looking at my writing now, I’ve really broadened my horizons, and I feel good about that.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
More of the same, right now. I have an extensive list of fic ideas I want to work on, for various pairings. I want to branch out from the “Heroes” and “Tribe” fandoms; I currently have a couple of solid “Doctor Who” ideas, and I think that might be where I go next.
Profic? I have to learn to write it. :) I’ve written so much fanfiction the last few years that I’ve all but stopped having ideas for original fiction (except for one tough little bunny that’s stayed with me for a while now). My creative writing class this semester was not as effective as I hoped in curing that- although I did write some pretty good poetry, which is new for me. I’m only a year and a half to graduating from college, so I need to get on that whole writing thing.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe:
“The Difference Between Invincibility and Immortality”. When I wrote it, I read it over and went, Man, this is pretty intense. I hope I get some good feedback from it. And people did comment, and the feedback was good, but there just wasn’t much of it. I was really proud, so I felt a bit let down by that.
Most fun:
“The Pigeons, the Purse, the Pretzel, and Peter”, which I wrote as a birthday present for trippypeas. I rarely try for humor in fics, so that was new, and I giggled while writing it.
Most disappointing:
The multi-part “Heroes”/”Lost” crossover story I attempted to write for heroes_bigboom. I’d only just gotten back into writing in March, and the long-term nature of the project combined with the new fandom was too much. It’s still sitting on my computer, waiting to be finished.
Most sexy:
There were a couple of smutty ones, but the most sexy was “Cinnamon and Caramel”, I think.
Story With a Single Sexy Moment:
I don’t know what to answer for this one. Maybe “Sharing Sounds”? I’m not sure.
Hardest to Write:
Technically the Big Boom story, because I never finished it. But of all the ones I actually completed? Maybe “Forgive Me”. I actually wrote the first draft of it in December of 2006, if I recall correctly, which kind of doesn’t make it a 2007 story. But I did extensive revisions to it in 2007 before posting it at this journal. It’s the only femmeslash I’ve ever written, and since I usually focus on m/m in Tribe fics, the only time I’d really focused on the female characters at all. So it was tough.
Most unintentionally telling:
I don’t know about unintentionally telling, but “Irrational Fears” is based on the fact that I have an irrational fear of seeing horror movies in theatres. Peter had it worse in this story, since I made him afraid of horror movies in general, but all the same. That was based on an actual personality trait of mine.
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
“Sharing Sounds” is pretty wrong, in a way. No one should have to listen to their neighbors having sex, and while Peter and Mohinder don’t necessarily enjoy it in the story, they do have a weird way of coping. Oh well, the plot bunny showed up, and I had to do something with it.
Overall, I'm incredibly proud of myself for what I managed to do this year with my writing. I wrote my first Plaude one-shot on a day when my life had reached a huge turning point, and found the response to it so positive that I realized I had found a way back into writing. I found avenues this year that fit, instead of aiming too high and losing steam halfway through. I actually got up the courage to post the slash I write, and found a community through it.
I'm glad I searched for and found lj communities for fanfiction. I've found them all to be extremely supportive and welcoming, and it's touching to me that I get really encouraging comments even for the stories that are just so-so. Thank you, to everybody that I've met this year through lj writing. It's been awesome.
I'm really hoping to expand into other fandoms in 2008, as well as trying new things with writing style and taking baby steps back into the land of multi-parts. Can I do it? Probably. Will it be good? If I'm lucky.
Will I see you there? Goodness, I hope so.
Sarah
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I wrote 16 completed one-shots this year, which I think is more than I’ve written in any past year. It didn’t feel like that much as I was doing it, because I would go for weeks at a time without writing anything. But between fic exchanges and my own ideas, I managed to get quite a bit done.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Well, I didn’t start watching “Heroes” until January 2007, so I guess all of those pairings were a surprise in some way. :) I only wrote one Petrellicest ficlet, but that pairing would have surprised me in January. I had glanced over some Nathan/Peter stories before, but since I didn’t see the slashy early episodes, I didn’t see the chemistry until I’d been watching for a while.
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
Oh, that’s hard. I think one of the ones I like the best is “The Difference Between Invincibility and Immortality”, a Peter-centric genfic I wrote in August. It’s a good exploration of an idea, and I got teary-eyed writing the end.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Everything I wrote this year was a risk. I only did one-shots in 2007- in high school, I used to only have ideas for multi-parts, and I could never finish them or get them to read really well. Once I learned that I could express an idea in three pages or less, I was fine. Also, I’d never posted slash outside of the Tribeworld message board until this year. I think what I learned from the risks was simply that it’s okay to take them. Looking at my writing now, I’ve really broadened my horizons, and I feel good about that.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
More of the same, right now. I have an extensive list of fic ideas I want to work on, for various pairings. I want to branch out from the “Heroes” and “Tribe” fandoms; I currently have a couple of solid “Doctor Who” ideas, and I think that might be where I go next.
Profic? I have to learn to write it. :) I’ve written so much fanfiction the last few years that I’ve all but stopped having ideas for original fiction (except for one tough little bunny that’s stayed with me for a while now). My creative writing class this semester was not as effective as I hoped in curing that- although I did write some pretty good poetry, which is new for me. I’m only a year and a half to graduating from college, so I need to get on that whole writing thing.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe:
“The Difference Between Invincibility and Immortality”. When I wrote it, I read it over and went, Man, this is pretty intense. I hope I get some good feedback from it. And people did comment, and the feedback was good, but there just wasn’t much of it. I was really proud, so I felt a bit let down by that.
Most fun:
“The Pigeons, the Purse, the Pretzel, and Peter”, which I wrote as a birthday present for trippypeas. I rarely try for humor in fics, so that was new, and I giggled while writing it.
Most disappointing:
The multi-part “Heroes”/”Lost” crossover story I attempted to write for heroes_bigboom. I’d only just gotten back into writing in March, and the long-term nature of the project combined with the new fandom was too much. It’s still sitting on my computer, waiting to be finished.
Most sexy:
There were a couple of smutty ones, but the most sexy was “Cinnamon and Caramel”, I think.
Story With a Single Sexy Moment:
I don’t know what to answer for this one. Maybe “Sharing Sounds”? I’m not sure.
Hardest to Write:
Technically the Big Boom story, because I never finished it. But of all the ones I actually completed? Maybe “Forgive Me”. I actually wrote the first draft of it in December of 2006, if I recall correctly, which kind of doesn’t make it a 2007 story. But I did extensive revisions to it in 2007 before posting it at this journal. It’s the only femmeslash I’ve ever written, and since I usually focus on m/m in Tribe fics, the only time I’d really focused on the female characters at all. So it was tough.
Most unintentionally telling:
I don’t know about unintentionally telling, but “Irrational Fears” is based on the fact that I have an irrational fear of seeing horror movies in theatres. Peter had it worse in this story, since I made him afraid of horror movies in general, but all the same. That was based on an actual personality trait of mine.
"Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
“Sharing Sounds” is pretty wrong, in a way. No one should have to listen to their neighbors having sex, and while Peter and Mohinder don’t necessarily enjoy it in the story, they do have a weird way of coping. Oh well, the plot bunny showed up, and I had to do something with it.
Overall, I'm incredibly proud of myself for what I managed to do this year with my writing. I wrote my first Plaude one-shot on a day when my life had reached a huge turning point, and found the response to it so positive that I realized I had found a way back into writing. I found avenues this year that fit, instead of aiming too high and losing steam halfway through. I actually got up the courage to post the slash I write, and found a community through it.
I'm glad I searched for and found lj communities for fanfiction. I've found them all to be extremely supportive and welcoming, and it's touching to me that I get really encouraging comments even for the stories that are just so-so. Thank you, to everybody that I've met this year through lj writing. It's been awesome.
I'm really hoping to expand into other fandoms in 2008, as well as trying new things with writing style and taking baby steps back into the land of multi-parts. Can I do it? Probably. Will it be good? If I'm lucky.
Will I see you there? Goodness, I hope so.
Sarah